Rioaseo Total S.A.E.S.P., is a public service company that does door-to-door waste collection, street sweeping and related activities. It transports residues and waste to the final disposal site and collects and incinerates hospital waste as well as industrial and hazardous waste.

The challenge

Due to damages caused to the structure by chemical elements that the oven is exposed to, the incineration process has to be stopped on a regular basis.

The damages were caused by the different types of gas that are created through the incineration process of different types of residues. The system to neutralize those gases is being implemented through a manual process and the maintenance process is not well focused. The company was unable to find a material with which to cover or protect the inside of the ductwork and the collector against the acids formed by the condensation of the gases produced by waste incineration, and the technology used in the plant is obsolete. Preventative maintenance is done every 15 days.

The effects of this situation are of economic, environmental and organizational nature and affect occupational health and safety.

Actions taken within the enterprise (after application of the PREMA GHK guide)

Maintenance information was gathered and with this data a comprehensive maintenance plan was scheduled. A maintenance cost analysis was put together.

These activities were developed by the operations director, the director of the incineration plant, operations personnel and the treasurer of the company.

Economic benefits

Previous operational costs

COL$ 203,623,718

($currency_symbol$113,721)

Maintenance and repair orders and contracts.

Savings per year

COL$ 40,000,000

($currency_symbol$ 22,339)

Labor cost optimization, down time, time reduction for corrective maintenance, input optimization for maintenance.

Maintenance fixed costs per year

COL$ 3,600,000

Specialized labor to do the planning, follow up and control of maintenance activities.

Payback period

No payback time, the fixed cost of reformulating the maintenance plan are the duty of the plant director.

Environmental benefits

One of the major environmental benefits is the fact that a good maintenance program leads to a plant that operates in better conditions, which leads to fewer emissions during the incineration process. Planned maintenance also helps avoid the misuse of materials.

Since the plant is working in an improved way, the intervals between general maintenance and the maintenance of the water circulation system is wider and does only need to be fulfilled every 7-8, instead of every 5 months.

Despite of this direct improvements of the process, the fact that the plant is working more continuously leads to a better treatment of hospital waste generated in the region, which means that less hazardous waste remains untreated or needs to be transported to other cities.

Organizational benefits

Organizational benefits include improvement in plant working conditions, better productivity for the incinerator and improved trust and credibility in relation to the clients and the local communities.

Improvements in organizational health and safety

As the plant is working better, the storage time for hospital waste has been reduced, which at the same time reduces the biological risk the workers are exposed to when working in the incineration plant.